Sports stats



Thunder Draw Over 200,000 Fans For 5th Straight Year

April 7, 2010 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - The Stockton Thunder, a two-time recipient of the ECHL "Award of Excellence," announced that the club drew 217,098 fans (6,031 average) in 36 regular season games at Stockton Arena, the fifth consecutive year that over 200,000 fans crossed the turnstiles of Stockton Arena.

The Thunder also drew an average of over 6,000 fans for the fifth straight year and ranked third overall this season in ECHL attendance, only surpassed by the second-year Ontario Reign (led ECHL with 232,223 fans) and the first-year Toledo Walleye (second with 226,575 fans).

"We're happy to be a part of the continuous evolution in our league which opens the door to new markets, which at the same time makes it difficult to maintain the top spot as the league's leader in attendance every season," said Thunder president Dan Chapman. "By the fact that over 200,000 fans enjoyed Thunder hockey this season in person, we're satisfied that we've firmly established ourselves in a hockey rabid community after leading the league in attendance four consecutive seasons. Thunder fans should be very proud. We look forward to continuing to grow even more next season."

Last year, the Thunder became the first team since 2004-05 (Florida Everblades) to lead the league in attendance for four consecutive seasons and has drawn 14 sellouts in the team's franchise history. The Thunder drew a standing room only crowd of 9,392 on Nov. 8 vs. Alaska.

The Thunder drew a club record 244,085 fans to Stockton Arena in 2006-07 and drew the sixth largest crowd in ECHL All-Star Game history on January 23 with a total of 7,455 fans.

TOP FIVE HOME CROWDS IN 2009-10

OPPONENT DATE ATTENDANCE

1. Alaska 11/7/09 9,392*

2. Victoria 1/30/10 9,158

3. Utah 3/20/10 8,518

4. Las Vegas 3/27/10 8,053

5. Victoria 3/6/10 8,042

* Denotes sellout

The first round series of the Kelly Cup Playoffs moves to Stockton Arena for the remainder of the series and game three, between the Thunder and Alaska Aces, is at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The game can be viewed online exclusively at www.stocktonthunder.com, courtesy of B2 Networks (audio is free of charge).



ECHL Stories from April 7, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central